where orders emerge

Dulce Et Decorum Est — Not

Here’s a letter that I sent today to a local Washington, DC, radio station:

Manager, WTOP News RadioWashington, DC

Dear Sir or Madam:

The
commercial you’re now running to remind young men that "it’s the law"
that they register with Selective Service is disgusting.

Driving to the bagel store this morning, my 11-year-old son and I heard
this ad on the radio. "What’s registration?" my son asked.

I
explained, and then told him that "It’s part of the government’s effort
to make you think that your life ultimately belongs to it and not to
you. The government wants you to believe that you’re obliged even to
die for it if it commands you to do so."

"That’s idiotic!" my son replied.

"Right
you are, Tiger!" I proudly told him. "And if, when the time comes for
you to perform this degrading tribal ritual, you decline to do so,
you’ll have both my admiration and my unconditional support."